Over the last few years, I've tended to skip reading preseason baseball magazines -- too many air-headed predictions made by people without a firm grasp of statistics and economics. Athlon Sports' Baseball Previews, though, is both hip and smart, and always has something surprising to say about ever ... More >>
"I'm surprised," a disingenuous Hal Steinbrenner told the press yesterday in Arizona, "to hear that there's anger if you see what we've done this offseason." Well, I would just call it anger, Hal. There's also a lot of frustration, derision, and lethargy out there. "We've signed three or four of th ... More >>
It's official: the policy of the Yankees' front office is to start Opening Day with the oldest roster in the history of Major League Baseball. And this must be the policy because nothing else the Yankees have done - or not done - makes any sense. First off, for our Christmas present, the Steinbre ... More >>
Speculation on what caused the train wreck that ended last night with the Yankee's 8-1 loss to Detroit is useless, so I'm going to empty out all the notes I took during this year's ALCS and see what sense can be made of it. First off, this is the third time the Yankees have lost a postseason series ... More >>
Regardless of what happens tonight, while watching the Yankees 2-1 loss to the Tigers last night in the third game of the ALCS, you had the feeling that it was the end of an era. They brought Nick Swisher to the on-deck circle last night but he didn't get to bat. If he had, it probably would have ... More >>
If you didn't stay up last night to see it, you missed a classic. Russell martin -- or "Thank God For Russell" Martin, as he's known in my house -- belted a long shot off Jim Johnson in the 9th inning to give the Yankees 3-2 lead. And then it seemed like everyone in the Yankees lineup got a hit. E ... More >>
On paper, it looks like a mismatch, but Yankees fans who have watched their team sink while the Orioles soared over the last third of the season know that this isn't so. In overall batting, the Yanks lead by 18 points, .265 (5th best in the American League) to the Orioles .247 (No. 10), and in r ... More >>
Is it possible that following one team up close, day by day, for an entire season, can actually give you a distorted rather than accurate perception of how good they are? Like many Yankee fans, I've been ruthlessly criticizing the team's performance, or at least its performance since the All-Star ... More >>
However much relief Yankee fans feel after the split of the four-game series with the Orioles - and it was oh, so painfully close to being 3 of 4 for the Yanks - and however good it felt to finally see the Yanks cut loose for 13 runs on Sunday afternoon, it's hard to come away with any sense of con ... More >>
However the Yankees end up after the crucial weekend series against the Orioles, there's one thing that August has pretty much demonstrated: namely, that the Yankees -- as they are now constituted -- are not going to the World Series this year and probably will not even win the American League East. ... More >>
Yankees fans breathed a little easier last night with C.C. Sabathia's return. He went 7 1/3 innings in the Yanks' 3-1 victory over Cleveland, gave up four hits and a walk, and, best of all, struck out nine. His ERA has now dropped below 3.50 for the season. Then again, he was pitching against the ... More >>
Remember just a few years ago when everyone thought it was so unfair that the Yankees had the money and resources to make all the big deals just before the trade deadline? The haves picking the pockets of the have-nots, and all that. Well, it sure does look as if the Yankees are no longer one of th ... More >>
I don't think anyone, even the most arrogant of Yankee fans -- am I being redundant when I say "arrogant Yankee fans? - thought the Yankees would be in 1st place in the AL East at the All-Star break. Certainly not after losing their big stud starter Michael Pineda before the season started and Mar ... More >>
I'm trying to remember -- was last night the first time ever that Yankees fans rooted for the Mets and vice versa? The two teams helped each other out by whipping the others' division rivals, and in doing so, I think, helped give good definition of their teams' respective character. The Mets, beati ... More >>
You'd probably think that a baseball team's losing its young, hot right-handed starting pitcher and three-quarters of what was being touted as the best bullpen in baseball would hurt any chances it has of staying in contention. But after a rare sweep of the A's in Oakland, capped by a 2-0 shutout Su ... More >>
Any Yankees victory over the Los Angeles Angels is sweet, but this afternoon's 5-0 win was particularly sweet. No sooner did Albert Pujols say, in effect, that Opening Day at Yankee Stadium was "no big deal," Hiroki Kuroda went out and made a big deal out of it: 8 innings, 5 hits, 6 Ks, ZERO runs. ... More >>
New York Yankees host California Angels
I knew on Saturday when the Yankees lost to the Rays 8-6 that if they lost again on Sunday - as they did, 3-0, also to the Rays - that some wise guy would jump up and say, "but the 1998 Yanks started out 0-3 and they did okay." Yes, they did. But the 2012 Yankees aren't the 1998 Yankees. Let us c ... More >>
Though it didn't make anyone's sports headlines in a week of Bobby Valentine's smart-offs and the return of Jeremy Lin, what might turn out to be the biggest sports news of all is the exciting progress (measured in the increasing velocity of that once-fearsome slider, now up to 94-95 mph) of Joba Ch ... More >>
Sabathia: Big dramaC.C. or C.J.? Does it come down to that for the Yankees? We still don't know who's going to the World Series, but the internet is abuzz with speculation about whether the Yankees are going to try to re-sign C.C. Sabathia or Texas Rangers left-handed ace C.J. Wilson — or both ... More >>
If you were about to play what could be your last game of the season, would you use every weapon you had? If we are to believe Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland, he wouldn't. Leyland has repeatedly said he "probably wouldn't use Justin Verlander in relief" in tonight's Game Five against the Yanks, ... More >>
If I were a Yankees fan, I'd be afraid — very afraid. Of course, as I've said all season, whenever I look at the pitching staff I'm afraid. But in addition to being afraid all season, I've also been wrong all season, so maybe I'm wrong now. Maybe there's something I'm not seeing here, but the ... More >>
Yankee savior RiveraHere's a story from the November 17, 1997, Seattle Times that's making the rounds: Not even the New York Yankees' offer of reliever Mariano Rivera, rated one of the American League's top closers, could entice the Mariners to give up Randy Johnson. ...
After C.C., who?To sit through the plethora of stories about the Yankees' starting rotation you'd think they had pitching to burn. "Logjam" is the most common word used to describe the starting six, and, incredibly, we're also seeing "embarrassment of riches." It's embarrassing, all right, b ... More >>
photo by Neil deMauseFollowing last night's ten-inning loss to the Twins, the Yankees' record stands at 3-2 (good!) and the team trails Buck Showalter's undefeated Orioles by a game and a half in the AL East (bad!). But since everybody knows that early April stats don't matter (remember how t ... More >>
Bing Crosby didn't know it, but when he took off for Paris on October 12, 1960, he left us all with a wonderful Christmas present. Bing was part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and fearful that his National League champions were no match for the Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris-Whitey Ford Yankees. ... More >>
yankees.com 'Tis the season to be charitable, and The New York Yankees are once again sponsoring a holiday food drive on December 16 in which donors can receive two tickets to see the team play in 2011. Simply donate 30 pounds of non-perishable food items. Giving is great, but 30 pounds of ... More >>
After a bluff from both sides, with New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman telling aging shortstop Derek Jeter to "test the market," number 2 and the Evil Empire are said to be coming together on a three-year contract worth between $45-51 million, with "a complicated fourth-year vesting option, th ... More >>
No point right now in looking into the Yankees chances of getting Cliff Lee -- though offhand I'd say the odds are about the same as they were for the Knicks in landing LeBron James. There's also not much point wondering what the Yankees need to do to pull themselves together next season. The ... More >>
It's too early (by a few hours, at least) to call this a T3 -- a total team tank. After all, C.C. Sabathia could win this afternoon, and if the Texas Rangers can win three straight, so can the Yankees. But if Yankee fans need anything more to be depressed about, consider that Sabathia, wh ... More >>
A Reuters article today entitled "Lee makes himself more enticing for Yankees" notes that Texas Rangers southpaw Cliff Lee -- who delivered the New York Yankees a brutal slaying last night -- is looking more and more enticing to the 2009 World Series Champion Team, and that the Yankees can an ... More >>
On Friday, we quoted Daily News writer John Harper's dire scenario for the Yankees: "On second thought, what if it's not such a break for the Yankees that Cliff Lee can't pitch until Game 3? Really, it's only natural to presume that delaying Lee's impact on the series helps the defending ch ... More >>
You could single out almost any Mike Lupica column as typical, but the one in today's Daily News as the Yankees prepare to play Texas in Game Three of the ALCS is really classic. We don't want to belabor the obvious -- that's Mike Lupica's job. Some examples: "The Yankees come home no ... More >>
Everyone is saying that tonight's game, the first of the American League Championship Series, is critical for both the Yankees and Rangers. It appears more critical, though, for the Yankees for two very simple reasons. One, of course, is Cliff Lee. If Lee doesn't start until Game 3, then if ... More >>
Twins cap not pictured, for onceThe MLB Playoffs begin today, kicking off an annual tradition for many sports-minded New Yorkers: rooting against the Yankees. Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn has added motivation this year, given that his beloved Minnesota Twins once again drew the Yanks in th ... More >>
Prudence suggests that Bill Madden's pick in today's Daily News - Minnesota twins in five - is a correct one. Madden's reasoning is sound: the Yankees have been a lackluster 29-30 since July 30 and only 9-17 since September 5. "Combined," Madden writers, "with Girardi's erratic managing and t ... More >>
Apparently I wasn't the only one who watched the Yankees' hideous 10-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays last night feeling that the Bombers had just bombed in their most important game of the season. There is Filip Bondy, for instance, in today's Daily News: "This was a very big game...C.C. Sabat ... More >>
The (second-place) New York Yankees are heading into their first game tonight since losing against the (first-place) Tampa Bay Rays. In those games, though, the the Yankees lost more than the game: They took a hit of pride, too.
Be afraid, Yankees fans -- be very afraid. Though some are dismissing the Yankees' late-season slide saying, "After all, they're still going to make the playoffs," there's nothing good to be said about their performance over the last 10 games. On September 4, the Yankees were on an eight-g ... More >>
By Jared Greenfield Turns out it's not just street thugs who embrace the Bronx Bomber brand. The Times served up a hundred examples yesterday of cons who don pinstripes, but as usual, the paper of record took a dive on all the politician perps, convicted or charged, whose preferred wardrobe ... More >>
All the cool kids are wearing them. The New York Times points out an odd and fascinating trend in crime fashion: More than 100 suspects or "persons of interest" in a crime in the city since 2000 have worn Yankees-branded clothing either during their crime or when they were arrested or arraign ... More >>
Yankees announcer Michael Kay, speaking on ESPN 1050 yesterday, said what is on every New York baseball fan's mind. Not "Will the Yankees win the pennant?" -- with a favorable schedule and the return of Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte imminent, the odds are in their favor. Not "Will C.C. ... More >>
Apparently there were two baseball games between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays played Sunday afternoon - the one I saw and the one written about by John Harper in the Daily News. In the game I saw, Joe Girardi, with his ace C.C. Sabathia on the hill, had an inexplicable attack of ... More >>
It's a sad enough day for the Yankees and their fans, given the death of controversial and famed owner George Steinbrenner. But it very well might've just gotten even worse for some, especially their (massive base of) fans of Latino decent, who -- if they're anything like the majority of Lat ... More >>
"Other guys helped create that mess," said Joe Girardi of last Saturday's disaster in which the Yankee relief corps blew a 10-5 lead to the Cleveland Indians in a 13-11 loss. "But he just didn't make the pitches when he had to ... Joba is our eighth inning guy, and he needs to get it done for ... More >>
Weekend trips to cultured places
As if it weren't enough for them to tell you when to stand, when to sit, and how much they're going to extort you for the privilege of watching a World Series team phone it in on important rivalry series', the Yankees management is now telling you which telecommunications devices you can (or ... More >>
Anyone out there feel as cheated by the final regular position episode of The Lineup as I did? The segment on center fielders was really the only one worth doing; the winners at the other positions -- Yogi Berra at catcher, Lou Gehrig at first, Jackie Robinson at second, Derek Jeter at short, ... More >>
Some things are simply unforeseeable. After all, who would've thought that the New York Yankees - the highest-paid team in baseball, the team that won the World Series just six months ago - would sustain what some could only perceive as the most shocking defeat in the history of the franchise ... More >>
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